Friday the 24th will be two weeks before my vacation start so I suppose I'll give my notice then. And I get two "floating holidays" and my husband thinks I should use them my last two days with this company. Thoughts?

Could you make your notice effective at the end of the second week after you leave and hand it in as you walk out the door on your last day? I'd take the floating holidays the week before the vacation to make sure you get paid for them. Also, if you're leaving on February 7, shouldn't you get paid for the first 1.25 days you're off since you earned it in January?

I don't think making employees accrue leave before they take it is a bad thing, but if they change a policy, they need to give you enough notice so that you can make plans. Did they?

We used to do advanced leave, but I had an employee who used up all advanced time at the beginning of a year, then throughout the year ended up needing to take other time off, all for a family member's illness. The employee ended up using so much unpaid time that the hours advanced at the beginning of the year were more than what was earned (a full pay period of unpaid time earns no leave) and we had to deduct the hours taken but not accrued from the employee's paycheck.

Now, everybody uses accrued leave only. I made an exception last year because I had a new employee who already had a family vacation scheduled before she was hired. She had earned more than half of what she needed and is a very good employee, so I advanced the time off needed and she earned it back. Sometimes it just depends on the circumstances.

If you're sure you're quitting, I'd consider going ahead and using the floaters as soon as possible because I can see your boss escorting you from the building the instant you give notice, and then refusing to pay you for the floaters since you weren't at work. It would be inappropriate for your boss to do that, but I think it's clear that "appropriate" isn't really on your boss's radar screen.

They switched to accrual but didn't have people start with any PTO?? That's ridiculous! My work switched a few years ago but gave everyone their lump sum and allowed people to start accruing. You couldn't use that accrued time until the next calendar year, but you started with the amount you were accustomed to getting AND began earning it back right away.

If you're sure you're quitting, I'd consider going ahead and using the floaters as soon as possible because I can see your boss escorting you from the building the instant you give notice, and then refusing to pay you for the floaters since you weren't at work. It would be inappropriate for your boss to do that, but I think it's clear that "appropriate" isn't really on your boss's radar screen.

Very good advice.

How does Crazy Boss still have a job after hitting someone? And why did so-called Professional Boss kowtow to Crazy Boss' refusal to give you the time off? S/he doesn't sound all that professional to me if (A) they didn't fire CB after the assault and (B) they gave into CB's tantrum re. your time off and has now lost a good employee over it. It sounds like the tail is wagging the dog here.

They switched to accrual but didn't have people start with any PTO?? That's ridiculous! My work switched a few years ago but gave everyone their lump sum and allowed people to start accruing. You couldn't use that accrued time until the next calendar year, but you started with the amount you were accustomed to getting AND began earning it back right away.

Exactly. When they introduced the new policy, the OP's company should have allowed employees to roll over their unused leave. Or cashed it out. Instead it sounds like they just forced everyone to start over with 0 hours leave. That's pretty dodgy, to me.

If you're sure you're quitting, I'd consider going ahead and using the floaters as soon as possible because I can see your boss escorting you from the building the instant you give notice, and then refusing to pay you for the floaters since you weren't at work. It would be inappropriate for your boss to do that, but I think it's clear that "appropriate" isn't really on your boss's radar screen.

Very good advice.

How does Crazy Boss still have a job after hitting someone? And why did so-called Professional Boss kowtow to Crazy Boss' refusal to give you the time off? S/he doesn't sound all that professional to me if (A) they didn't fire CB after the assault and (B) they gave into CB's tantrum re. your time off and has now lost a good employee over it. It sounds like the tail is wagging the dog here.

I agree. Professional Boss sounds gutless!

OP, as a last report, could you send an email to Professional Boss, itemising exactly how much this holiday is costing you, and the amount of money you stand to lose if you can't take this vacation?

Also, forward him a copy of the leave request you sent Crazy Boss and point out that you sent it months ago.

If you're sure you're quitting, I'd consider going ahead and using the floaters as soon as possible because I can see your boss escorting you from the building the instant you give notice, and then refusing to pay you for the floaters since you weren't at work. It would be inappropriate for your boss to do that, but I think it's clear that "appropriate" isn't really on your boss's radar screen.

If you're sure you're quitting, I'd consider going ahead and using the floaters as soon as possible because I can see your boss escorting you from the building the instant you give notice, and then refusing to pay you for the floaters since you weren't at work. It would be inappropriate for your boss to do that, but I think it's clear that "appropriate" isn't really on your boss's radar screen.

Wise words.

POD

Congrats on getting out of that environment.

I had a roughly similiar situation happen to me years ago. We had PTO and I was going to take a 3 week vacation overseas. In January, I emailed my boss and requested the specific dates for August/September. He replied and approved. DH and I booked the hotels, the airfare, the rental car, etc.

In July, that boss was laid off and I got a new "temporary manager." In August, I mentioned to her that I'd be gone at the end of August for 3 weeks and she laid into me that it was unprofessional that I was going to take a last minute vacation and didn't get approval or tell anyone, etc. She was awful to work for for many other reasons as well.

I had saved all the emails from the previous boss approving my time off. It wasn't my fault that the company did a lousy job of communicating and listing vacation dates. I forwarded the emails to her so she begrudgingly let me go on the trip.

But the whole time I was gone, I was planning my exit strategy. I couldn't stand my new boss or the company. I stuck it out for 6 more months until I had a new job offer and I quit this old job.

I'm glad you're in a position where you can tell them to get lost. I look forward to the update!

They switched to accrual but didn't have people start with any PTO?? That's ridiculous! My work switched a few years ago but gave everyone their lump sum and allowed people to start accruing. You couldn't use that accrued time until the next calendar year, but you started with the amount you were accustomed to getting AND began earning it back right away.

Exactly. When they introduced the new policy, the OP's company should have allowed employees to roll over their unused leave. Or cashed it out. Instead it sounds like they just forced everyone to start over with 0 hours leave. That's pretty dodgy, to me.

Yeah - if they are switching systems, they should have given anyone who has been employed for at least a year a starting lump sum of days carried over, and then. As it is, under the new system no-one will take holidays for the first few months, and everyone will try to take it at the end, because they didn't have it earlier.

But if you're working in a place where your head boss can be over-ruled by your immediate supervisor on matters that he though were completely settled (costing you a lot of money), and you immediate supervisor has actually *hit* an underling and not been penalized for it.... That's a case where you need to find new employment, before you're the one getting beaten on.

They switched to accrual but didn't have people start with any PTO?? That's ridiculous! My work switched a few years ago but gave everyone their lump sum and allowed people to start accruing. You couldn't use that accrued time until the next calendar year, but you started with the amount you were accustomed to getting AND began earning it back right away.

Exactly. When they introduced the new policy, the OP's company should have allowed employees to roll over their unused leave. Or cashed it out. Instead it sounds like they just forced everyone to start over with 0 hours leave. That's pretty dodgy, to me.

If you're sure you're quitting, I'd consider going ahead and using the floaters as soon as possible because I can see your boss escorting you from the building the instant you give notice, and then refusing to pay you for the floaters since you weren't at work. It would be inappropriate for your boss to do that, but I think it's clear that "appropriate" isn't really on your boss's radar screen.

Very good advice.

How does Crazy Boss still have a job after hitting someone? And why did so-called Professional Boss kowtow to Crazy Boss' refusal to give you the time off? S/he doesn't sound all that professional to me if (A) they didn't fire CB after the assault and (B) they gave into CB's tantrum re. your time off and has now lost a good employee over it. It sounds like the tail is wagging the dog here.

I agree. Professional Boss sounds gutless!

OP, as a last report, could you send an email to Professional Boss, itemising exactly how much this holiday is costing you, and the amount of money you stand to lose if you can't take this vacation?

Also, forward him a copy of the leave request you sent Crazy Boss and point out that you sent it months ago.

Not everyone has 0 hours of PTO. You were allowed to roll over 40 hours if you had it saved up. My problem is I was hired last year in January and as a new-hire only earned half the normal PTO allotment (given as a lump sum of 60 hours in July. Any time-off before that was taken unpaid). That was gone by Christmas thanks to the flu and being sick three or four times on top of that. I was banking on receiving a full year (120 hours) of PTO on January 1st. The policy switch was announced last fall, but we were told we could still schedule our time-off as usual but we'd have to pay it back.

If they offer to approve my vacation time when I had in my resignation, I will decline. This is no longer a good employment option for me.

Not everyone has 0 hours of PTO. You were allowed to roll over 40 hours if you had it saved up. My problem is I was hired last year and as a new-hire only earned half the normal PTO allotment (given as a lump sum of 60 hours in July). That was gone by Christmas thanks to the flu and being sick three or four times on top of that. I was banking on receiving a full year (120 hours) of PTO on January 1st. The policy switch was announced last fall, but we were told we could still schedule our time-off as usual but we'd have to pay it back.

If they offer to approve my vacation time when I had in my resignation, I will decline. This is no longer a good employment option for me.

I don't blame you, and unfortunately, beacuse you started mid-year, you sort of fell between the cracks.

I would probably do the same thing, since even if they do change their mind, and "allow" you to take your trip, its still not a good environment.

Its like when you interview for a job, and you have a trip planned. Most people will let a new employer know, and most employers, I think, are generally ok with it. I always say, if they aren't, then you might want to think twice about working there, since who knows how they'd be with other issues.